Thankfully, it was no longer hoarded up when I finally paid it a visit! Known as Thai Hoa Palace, it was the first iconic building that greeted us when we stepped into the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hue Historical Citadel.
While sharing the same name as the one at China's Forbidden City, this wasn't as large although still bringing with it an imposing poise signifying its importance during the Nguyen Dynasty. It helped as well that there weren't too many tourists when we were there.
Measuring about 45 meters across, the building was built in 1805, re-located about 40 meters south in 1832. From old photographs gleaned from the internet; it appeared that the original building was less maintained.
Nevertheless, it was still a beautiful sight. Correct me if I am wrong - is it common to see panels with Chinese characters installed near the roofs? Although Vietnamese architecture borrows heavily from China in the ancient times, I don't recall seeing them in China.
Interior was impressive; with red lacquered wooden pillars (said to be a total of 80), that had golden drawings of dragons on clouds, resulting in a wow moment when we first stepped in.
Sparsely furnished, yet insanely breathtaking.
Only significant area would be right in the middle, where a three-tiered platform drew the attention of visitors with its excessive use of gold. For one from the Chinese ethnicity, we can never avoid the allure of gold.
And the throne, where the power of one man rules the entire country back in the imperial times during the Nguyen Dynasty. No doubt a location for important occasions for the imperial family then, this palace also "witnessed a total of 13 coronation ceremonies".
Recognized as Vietnam's national treasure in 2024, this pair of bronze dragon statues was made in 1842 and was originally placed outside another palace. Bringing them indoor would definitely help to ensure their longevity I presume.
The palace had two sections; what we saw so far was the front hall. Beyond that would be narrower passages and exhibition spaces for visitors to understand more about the palace, its renovation and also some information about the dynasty.
For example, antiques like the edict holder, and the investiture books used to confer titles on concubines and royalties, including a bronze one used when the budget was under stress, and the palace had to cut its cost by not using the originally silver one which cost more.
Remember the panels I mentioned earlier that were near the roof with Chinese characters? My question was answered with the above! Turned out to be a unique decorative style of Hue's royal architecture!
Photographs for viewing pleasure, including the original wooden ornamental piece from the palace, paintings of the traditional ceremonial costumes worn by officials in the past, and original pillars that were already badly damaged before the renovation.
Facing Kiến Trung Palace; which was an architectural marvel with mixes of East and West. As you can see from the above, restoration work was based on iconic structures first, although not exactly a bad thing since restoration might actually lessen some of the historical charm of the place.
Unlike the wooden pillars within the palace, the ones outside were made of stone with intricate carvings; guess stone can withstand the weather elements better.
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Address
Within Hue Historical Citadel,
Hue City, Vietnam
Map
As above.
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